Drivers License / Broadform Insurance

Many people ask about insuring their drivers license, which is officially called a “broad form” policy. What is it and can it save you some money?

Simply put, the broad form policy insures a specific driver rather than a specific car. You can drive your car, your friends car, your parents car, etc. The insurance covers the driver but does not provide liability coverage for the owner of the car.

This is a perfect policy for you if you own several cars or if you frequently borrow other people’s cars and want to make sure you have insurance in case they don’t. You can, and we recommend you do, purchase uninsured motorist and personal injury protection on a broad form policy in case you or your passengers are seriously injured in an accident.

Just remember, in Washington state the owner of the car is the person primarily responsible for damages done by their vehicle and a broadform is secondary. This means if their insurance does not cover them when you are driving their car, they may be left without any protection if you cause an accident even though you are covered (since your policy covers you against a lawsuit and not them).